Made to measure radiator covers in Eastbourne
I've made quite a number of made to measure radiator covers lately. The pictures above are of the latest couple (click on pictures to enlarge). These were made of MDF and then oiled to the colour the customer wanted. I could have made them in wood, but there is a considerable additional material cost involved. Radiators, including designer radiators, come in all shapes and sizes, and because of that, the covers and cabinets have to be made to fit. There is currently no good way to make a 'one size fits all model'. Radiator cabinets from the manufacturers can be very expensive (it must be said that there is a lot of work involved). Obviously they have large costs to carry. By contrast, I am able to keep costs low, making them myself. A sheet of MDF costs about £20. If you want any radiator covers or radiator cabinets, give me a call on 07930 335 937 or use the email link box in the right hand side bar.
Labels: Carpentry, Flatpack, Miscellaneous
Rain stopped play
What a miserable week (weatherwise) last week was.
It rained, and rained, and rained, and then it rained some more. My plan had been to complete the basement porch. Someone must have heard about my plan, and smiled. Then that someone let it rain for forty days and forty nights... No, that was someone else, wasn't it? It just felt like forty days and nights.
What I did manage to do was catch up with other workloads.
I've changed several light fittings, renewed sockets, switches, and a cooker hood, replaced washers on literally dozens of taps, rehung a couple of doors, restored two of my customers computers to fully functioning former glory, replaced a hand rail, built some flatpack, custom built a kitchen cabinet to hide a boiler, hung some curtains, and wired up a door bell. The one thing I didn't do last week was stop and offer a lift to a young teenage girl standing at a lonely bus stop in the pouring rain.
Why not?
Prejudice and cowardice!
I'm a 55 year old man driving a builder's van.
She was about 11 - 16 (who can tell?) and drowning at the bus stop.
Driving along the road, I was approaching the bus stop and saw her standing there, trying to hide behind the bus stop pole for protection against the rain.
I started to slow down, intending to offer a her a lift.
The windscreen wipers were having difficulty keeping up with the rain.
In the same second as I started to slow down, I made the decision to continue on without stopping. I don't think she even noticed me or the van.
Twenty years ago I would have stopped.
Ten years ago I would have stopped.
Five years ago I would have stopped.
But last week I didn't.
As I prepared to slow down, my thoughts were purely selfish.
She'll think I'm some sort of pervert.
She'll be afraid.
She could accuse me of something afterwards and I will have no defence.
and many other scenarios filled me with disquiet.
I have found the whole thing strangely sad.
She will never know that it made me feel wretched.
What has happened that we have developed into a society where I, and people like me, don't do what comes naturally (to offer help), because we are afraid of what might never happen.
Am I getting older and wiser, or simply older and more afraid?
Labels: Carpentry, Electrical, Flatpack, Miscellaneous, Plumbing, Rants
Flatpack and customer service
I had three calls from regular customers today, all needing flat pack assembled.
Two of the items were standard flat pack type furniture units; simple and straightforward enough.
The other one was a "self assembly" fitness bike.
You know the things I mean...
They stand in many a home, unused, except in the first flush of enthusiasm.
Thereafter they become silent clothes horses.
Well this (next year's clothes horse) needed to be assembled first.
"It's for my daughter" she explained.
The man who sold it to her said it only needed four pieces put together to complete the assembly, and yes she would be easily capable of doing it.
Well I am here to tell you that the salesman had either no idea what he was talking about (in which case he is at best a nitwit), or else he was maliciously mendacious.
It took me the better part of 30 minutes to sort the thing out.
It would have taken the lady, by her own admission, more than 30 hours!
In another life I was a highly successful Direct Salesman.
For those of you who don't already know direct sales is a feast or famine game.
Some weeks you'll feast on roast chicken
other days all you'll have to eat is feathers.
The pressures to perform and reach targets are unrelenting.
It's a very exciting way to live.
The temptation to dupe is huge and ever present.
It is purely down to an individual's personal integrity which way they go.
My erstwhile mentor in sales was a guy called Greg Barnes.
He used to say that the "tools" of the salesperson and the "tools" of the con artist are the same....
The ONLY difference between a sales person and a con artist is intent!A salesperson does things to help a customer reach a decision
that is good for the customer.The con artist does things to make the customer reach a decision
that is good for the con artist.People with good intent and personal integrity, aren't those the type of people we all want to deal with?
The lady has said she will never go back to that shop again.
I think she's right to think like that, don't you?
Labels: Flatpack, Miscellaneous, Rants
Here's a list of things I do
I'm always being asked can you do this or can you do that
so here is a list in alaphbetical order of some of the things I can do
Add or remove shelving
Aviaries built
Bathroom accessories hung
Bird houses built
Blinds installed
Bookcases made to measure
Cat enclosures
Carpentry & Joinery
Ceiling fans installed
Central Heating*
Wardrobe organizers installed
Clothes Dryers
Decks and Decking
Dog Kennels
Doors hung, repaired, or adjusted
Dual Flush Toilets Installed
External Painting*
Fencing & Gates
Fireplaces installed
Fixtures installed or replaced
Flat Pack Kits Assembled
Garden Maintenance
General Repairs*
Glazing*
Hanging pictures and whiteboards
Hardware replaced
Hardwood floors
Install curtain poles
Install Fly screens
Install Hand rails
Internal Painting*
Landscaping & Gardening *
Light fixtures installed or repaired
Locks fitted
Mailboxes installed
Maintenance
Mirrors hung
New appliances installed
Outdoor grill/fireplaces
Painting & Decorating*
Pergolas
Pet Doors
Pet flaps
Picture hanging
Plumbing
Pressure Cleaning*
Renovation
Repair simple leaks
Replacement of Sash Cords
Roofing Repairs*
Rot repair
Shelving
Shower doors installed
Skylights*
Small repairs
Smoke Detectors
Staircases & Handrails
Storage sheds
Swing sets
Switches replaced
Toilets installed or replaced
Trim carpentry
Vent fans installed
Waste Disposals installed or repaired
Weather stripping
Window Shutters
Windows & Locks
Windows repaired
if you need help give me a call on 07930 335 937
Labels: Carpentry, Decking, Door viewer, Electrical, Fencing, fitted wardrobes, Flatpack, gardening, Laminate, Miscellaneous, Plumbing
All those small jobs area lot of work
Lots and lots of small jobs today. Plumbing in a new dishwasher; changing ceramic tap heads; making a dresser child safe (is that possible?); replacing some missing flashing; building flatpack bunk beds; installing a bath panel; removing a shower; and not fogetting renwing silicone sealant around two shower screens. It's a grand life being Eastbourne's Jim'll Fix It!
Labels: Carpentry, Flatpack, Plumbing
Flatpack Cabin bed and MFI wardrobes
Assembling a cabin bed can be a two cups of tea job. Assembling a cabin bed in a box room only just big enough for it to fit in adds a layer of complexity and another cup of tea. But assembling a cabin bed in mirror image to the way it's been designed adds at least three extra cups and a complete packet of Jaffa cakes. This cabin bed has a wardrobe on the right hand end. Flat pack comes with pre-drilled and cut boards. What's on the right is supposed to stay on the right, and what's on the left is meant to stay on the left.
Now that's alright if there's plenty of space - but if the bed is 76" long and the walls are 80" apart, a small problem starts to raise it's ugly head.
How do you get clothes into the wardrobe?
After a bit of "what do we do now" puzzled expressions, and a couple of minutes nose scratching we (I) decided to reverse the layout.
On the left hand side of the room is a window, and by reaching around its possible to use the window opening to put things in and out of the wardrobe. Admittedly it's not a comfortable solution, but when the customer has £259 of paid for chipboard and screws on the floor, a solution has to be found. Blind holes had to be drilled through and through holes had to be stopped. Working from Chinese flat pack plans can be difficult enough but working in mirror image makes it just a tad harder! To be fair the plans were very clear by chinese standards, and so, after a couple of hours more than planned for, the cabin bed was ready for use. As long as the child doesn't put on weight he will be able to use the wardrobe for quite a few years to come.
By comparison the two large MFI wardrobes that needed to be put together, went up in a quarter of the time the cabin bed had taken. But I've always found MFI stuff is easy to assemble.
Labels: Carpentry, Flatpack
